A/N: Dick and Zatanna are 16 in this one.
Despite being a covert operative team things didn't always stay very covert when they got into the field. That's how the team found themselves in a firefight at eleven o'clock pm in a warehouse. Said warehouse was in Bludhaven, which was one of the most dangerous cities in the country. They were supposed to be scouting out some cobra venom that had made its way there from bane. It was pretty simple, scout and report. Of course Kid Flash's idea of covert was a bit different than everyone else's. Ten minutes in he supersped into some crates, effectively making a scene and announcing their presence.
So now, Robin was taking cover behind some crates while he hacked into the system's inventory logs. Around him the team was busy taking care of the hired guns. It only took him a few minutes to get in, download the information and get the offshore account info he needed. When he was finished he ducked out of the cover of the crates and joined the fight. There were a few thugs close to him that he went to first.
He kicked the closest man in the back and turned to the second one instantly. He elbowed the second man in the temple and he went down. He ducked as the third man pulled out a gun and grabbed his wrist. He twisted and the man let go of the gun, an uppercut to the chin had the thug on the floor. He looked up and saw the rest of the team taking out the few men that remained. Then he zeroed in on Zatanna who was on the other side of the warehouse. His eyes widened as he saw someone carefully approaching her from behind.
"Zatanna!" He yelled and took a step forward. But she was already turning around and dealing with them.
He sighed in relief and then hissed as he felt a fiery pain slice his arm. He quickly turned and ducked again as the first man that he kicked shot again. He moved forward and kicked again before punching the man's temple. He closed his eyes for a second and sighed angrily. He shouldn't have gotten distracted, Zatanna knew what she was doing!
"Robin!" Zatanna and the rest of the team were already gathering around him. He glanced down at his arm and determined that it was just a graze. It was bleeding a lot though, and it did hurt.
"I'm fine. He was a bad shot." Robin tried to assure them.
"Yeah, you got lucky." Zatanna said and Robin was surprised at the amount of venom in her voice.
The team glanced at her before looking back at Robin.
"You are sure that you're alright?" Aqualad questioned.
Robin nodded, "I've got bandages, I'm fine."
"Good." Kid Flash added.
"Well, good work then, team. Round them up. I'll inform local authorities." Aqualad instructed.
The team started to work and Robin paused to get gauze out of his belt. Kid bumped his good shoulder, "What was that about.?"
"The Zatanna thing?" Robin asked.
When Kid nodded he shrugged, "No idea."
"Might want to figure it out, man." He said before speeding off to help tie up the men.
Robin glanced over to where Zatanna was tying someone up. She looked pissed off and was murmuring something to Artemis. He couldn't make out what she was saying so he turned and started to help with the clean up.
When they were done they gathered by the exit as Miss Martian called in the bioship.
"Robin, did you get everything we need?" Aqualad asked.
"Yeah, we're all set."
Their leader nodded and they made their way into the ship. The ride back was quiet other than Wally trying to lighten the mood. They were back to the cave within the hour and Robin was a bit nervous to leave the ship. Batman always debriefed them which meant he couldn't hide this injury. He would probably need stitches anyway.
As soon as they entered the main hanger Batman noticed the bloody bandage on his arm. Robin saw his eyes narrow but the Bat didn't say anything.
"Aqualad, report." He growled.
Aqualad gave a full report and Robin downloaded the data onto the cave's system. Batman would review it later, probably tonight.
"Well done, other than blowing your cover. Dismissed."
"Go talk to Zatanna, dude." Wally whispered as they headed over to the zeta tubes.
Robin sighed, "Yeah, I will."
Wally patted him on the back before beaming to keystone. Zatanna was still talking to Artemis when he beamed back to the cave. Batman was right behind him.
"Does Alfred need to look at that now or do you want to shower first?"
That was Batman's way of letting him know Robin would not be joining him on patrol.
"It probably needs stitches but it can wait a few minutes." Robin replied and tried to keep the anger and annoyance out of his voice.
"Hm." Batman grunted as they walked.
Robin headed to the showers and washed off quickly before heading back. Zatanna still hadn't come back yet and he narrowed his eyes.
He hopped onto the medical table where Alfred was waiting with a medical kit.
"Let's see what you've done to yourself, Master Richard."
Dick didn't reply.
"What happened?" Bruce prompted.
"Nothing, it's just a graze."
Zatanna chose that moment to beam back into the cave.
"I asked what happened, not how bad it is." Bruce told him sternly.
"He got distracted." Zatanna hissed as she moved past them.
Dick narrowed his eyes at her. What was her problem?
Alfred raised an eyebrow at him and Bruce huffed.
"The young lady doesn't sound pleased." Alfred commented.
"Yeah, well if I find out why I'll let you know." Dick ground out.
"This had better not become an issue. I will pull you out of the field." Bruce reminded him before he moved to the computer.
Dick opened his mouth angrily but one look from Alfred reminded him of what a bad idea that was.
Dick glared at the floor quietly and waited for Alfred to finish. Luckily the butler was done before Zatanna reappeared and Dick made his way up to the main house. Something told him he didn't want Alfred and Bruce to witness this next conversation.
Dick entered his room and made his way over to his desk and sat down. He could at least finish some homework. He had a lot of math to catch up on.
He heard Zatanna walk past his room and shut her door about ten minutes after that. He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. He really didn't want to fight with her but it seemed like she had other ideas.
He pushed himself up from his chair and walked out into the hallway. He sighed before knocking on Zatanna's door.
It took a minute but she opened it up and scowled at him. He definitely wasn't going to mention how cute she looked like that.
"What?" Zatanna deadpanned.
He leaned against her door frame, "You tell me."
She glared at him and said nothing.
"Can I come in?" He prompted.
She sighed angrily and backed away so he could come in. Dick shut the door behind him and moved to sit on the edge of her bed.
She chose to stand and glare at him and he shook his head.
"Why are you mad?"
"You really don't know?" Zatanna asked incredulously.
Dick shrugged and shook his head. Maybe that was a mistake seeing as she just glared more. She had definitely picked up a variation of the batglare and he was not a fan of being on the receiving end of it.
"Zatanna, please."
"You!" She crossed her arms, "You got shot because you were trying to look after me! I'm not a baby, Dick! I can handle myself and I knew what was going on!"
Dick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, I realize that."
"I'm not sure that you do!" She started pacing, "Do you think I don't notice how much you check up on me during missions?"
"What I'm not allowed to care?" He scoffed.
She paused and glared at him again, "You're not allowed to think I can't do my job! I'm perfectly capable of doing my job! And now you're getting yourself hurt because you don't think I know what I'm doing!"
Dick stood, "What are you talking about? I've never had any doubts about you or your abilities."
"Oh yeah? Then why are you always checking up on me?"
Dick threw his hands in the air, "Because I love you! I can't help it, okay? I know you can do your job. I've known that since we were thirteen. I've never doubted it once!"
Zatanna looked at him suspiciously and scowled. It looked like she was trying to decide whether or not she would believe him.
He growled and crossed the space over to her. He pulled her closer to him and captured her mouth in a fierce kiss. She stayed completely still and he pulled back to look at her. She was staring at him stubbornly. He nudged her jaw with his nose.
"That's just going to make me try harder,'' he whispered.
She huffed and he smirked before slowly kissing her jaw. He trailed up to her mouth and kissed her lips softly. He carefully took her bottom lip between his teeth a bit down gently. She released a small noise and finally opened up to the kiss. He tightened his arm around her waist and moved one hand up into her hair. He felt both of her hands grip his shirt tightly and pull him closer.
Then without warning she let go of his shirt and pushed him away.
"Oh no. You're not just going to kiss me until I forget about it. That's definitely not healthy." She glared at him.
He huffed angrily, "That's not what I was trying to do!"
"Then what, exactly, are you trying to do?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"Show you how much I care." He said softly as he let go of her and backed up.
Zatanna sighed and moved forward to cup his face, "I know you care. I just need you to know that I can take care of myself. You can't keep checking up on me and getting distracted. Do you know how horrible I would feel if you got seriously hurt because of me?"
Dick sighed and moved his head to kiss her palm.
"Okay. I can't promise that I won't have to look over at you just to make sure. It's not that I don't think you can do your job! I just...I can't lose you."
Zatanna looked at him and her face softened after a moment, "Okay. Don't let yourself get hurt because of it again."
Dick smiled at her, "Yes ma'am. Whatever you want."
Zatanna smirked, "Now...I think we were in the middle of something."
Dick smirked and pulled her into his arms, "Mmm...I think you're right."